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I still really like this one!

Every time I come back to it, I rate it completely differently. There are few great songs, but a lot of good songs. I think it's a strong lineup and a great playlist, but, not a great Eurovision.

I actually really don't like it. It might be my least favourite winner of the 90's! 😂

That is a nice, positive way of looking at it. I like it. :3

I haven't listened to ALL the songs in the Polish internal selection yet, so I don't know if it would've been the best, but I definitely think it's a stronger entry than "The Tower".

Thanks so much! I hadn't seen many of your NF favourites yet, and only had Sweden to go off (where we had many differences of opinion), so glad that across the others, we have some of the same ones. ^^

Yes! Good luck to Croatia and hoping for a good result!

You sound almost surprised! But, of course, you're more than welcome.

The good thing about this year is even when there's positions you don't agree with, it's not like the songs are actually bad. Like Cyprus, Austria and Sweden are a bit high for me....but it's not crazy to have them up there either. I like your top three a lot. Obviously. ^^

Those are some strong choices. I'm not really feeling the Cyprus song. Definitely more intrigued by Georgia. But I'm not writing it off. There's the potential for a great live performance there.

Greece is the one that's got me thinking the most. It could be anywhere from 3rd to 5th for me. I guess I've just spend more time with Estonia and Croatia for Greece to overtake them just yet, but it's not impossible. I think it's a curious year. There is a lot of bland stuff at the bottom, and there is a lack of quality songs in the low teen's-twenties spot in my ranking, but the top tier is REALLY top tier. Like anything in my top...maybe 11....could be a winner if things go right.

I actually really like unconventional song structures if they're still somewhat of a logical music journey and each section is professional and engaging. With Greece, there's a definite progression seen in the ending section compared to what came in the beginning. It's one of the most exciting songs of the year for me. Albania's a weird one for me. I should dislike it as it is such an obvious downgrade after the revamp, but, the melody is still there and, I don't know it sticks with me. Latvia, on the otherhand, became a skip on my playlist rather quickly. It's just too languid.

@kaleproject3495 Well, our song is getting a lot of hate here in Greece. It actually has around 30% dislikes on the official ESC channel. Some people of course criticize our songs every year and claim that we should stop participating completely, because we already have too many problems as a nation and we shouldn't spend our tax money on a circus called Eurovision. That is basically an argument against Eurovision participation that non-fans in every country have of course. Other people take issue with Marina's urban style and claim that the music video is harming our reputation. Furthermore, some feel like the song has many Eastern sounds that are not traditionally Greek. But that is fine with me, as the MV is actually meant to poke fun at our tourist image, and Marina is half Sudanese, so the international sounds are part of her music. That's what she does as an artist. Some (young) people love her, others hate her. Finally, many find the lyrics shallow and poor. Yes, they are not poetic, but that is the kind of lyrics that songs of this style usually have. In other words, the song isn't perfect, but it is our mindset that is problematic. People had negative things to say even in the year when we actually won (2005). Sorry for the rant, but I just cannot put up with my people's attitude against Eurovision every year. This year in particular it has gone too far. I am not the biggest fan of the song myself, but I feel like I should support our entry no matter what, because representing an entire nation at the biggest music event worldwide is a huge responsibility which not everyone can take. I am sure that Marina will make us proud in the end. Regarding the last sentence, we have risen to 7th in the odds and the song already has a lot of traction to foreign fans. I want us to get a top 5 result just to see everyone's change of heart here. We are such hypocrites...

I am surprised that the song doesn't have a warmer reception back home. It not being "traditionally Greek" shouldn't really be that much of an issue considering how few of the recent Greek entries sound even remotely ethnic in any way. The Eastern sounds, particularly in the vocal approach, are what draw me to it and is very familiar to a lot of music I would listen to outside of Eurovision. Reading through the other criticisms, it does just seem a bit odd considering what your entry ended up being last year, and the fact that the alternative to it was probably the very plastic "Liar". I guess Greece just don't know when they have it good eh?

@@kaleproject3495 We never agree on what is the right song to represent us. Or literally on anything else.

I think the top songs this year are very top. But there's a big fall-off after the top 12-13ish. Last year, I had stuff like Spain, Czechia, Norway, UK and Australia all in my late-teen's and early twenties. All of those songs are much stronger than the likes of Georgia and Albania which I have up there last year. Similarly, there aren't many songs as bad as San Marino, Romania or Ireland from last year...so that is a positive. I don't mind the vibe of Belgium. But I think it takes far too long to get to the point. What is functioning as the "chorus" in the first two minutes of the song, feels more like a bridge and doesn't really give much of a payoff. And then, in the third minute, they completely move away from it and don't come back to it. I think these issues make it hard for me to like it, even though I do somewhat respect it. I think structurally, Switzerland is quite strong. If you get past the crazy ideas and inputs, it's actually a pretty classic Eurovision song structure. It does work for me. ^^

High praise for "Jako"! I really like it. Don't know if it's quite to the same level that you do, but I definitely don't think you're wrong to place it that high. I'm going to give the full Azeri studio cut a listen to day and I'm quite excited. I do like that they're going a bit more local with their songwriting now and I do think that long-term, it is going to payoff. But for now, they're playing catchup, and it's probably going to take a while for the results to turn around. I may dislike "Scared Of Heights" or "No Rules" for my own personal taste, but I do think that for people who like those types of music, there is something there. "Pedestal" is just, as an instrumental, completely flat and poorly-written. There's little for me to appreciate there.

Let's go. That's some proper taste right there. ^^ (As if it was in doubt).

I'll let this comment slide, but I haven't made any decision on who competes at Eurovision nor have I commented on how I feel about who's being allowed to compete. I'm going to be respectful of everyone's opinions on non-musical matters, but I would also expect my commenters to be respectful of the fact that that is not something I'm interested in getting into on this channel.

But eurovision doesn't allow Iran or "palestine" (which isn't even a real state) in the Eurovision

You're welcome! I had to rank it before listening to the proper studio version, which I will do today. I expect to like it even more.

Really? I have it ranked higher than most tops I've seen...and I'm not really sure which bad song I have ranked above it. I thought top ten was quite fair!

@@kaleproject3495 yeah I was joking because I'm really obsessed with this song but 10th place is a decent one

@@vincentesc I....would not mind it winning. I listen to it a lot!

If that's what we get to wear, then sign me up and take my Earthly belongings.

I'm so happy I was there for your first comment and you're still checking these out one year later! I really like the top eight of your ideal grand final. I'd like to think the UK really could do that well. I keep telling people that juries are going to like it, but I've been getting a bit of kickback.

People can be judge in government actions if they support said government

@@leck_mAnd I support neither ;) I support innocent people trapped in this hell though, on both sides.

I'm sure we can get into all of these songs before May! Really interesting top and can see you're not sure about some of the songs I really like. Your top three is objectively high-quality though, and we can go with that. With Israel's participation, I think there just needs to be a point where you draw a line under it and start talking about the actual song. I'll respect everyone who is taking a position about it, but, I'm into Eurovision to talk about music and that's what I'll be doing. I don't like the song as much as you do, but there are some positives about it for sure! Latvia is a bit of a weird situation as I also would like them to end their NQ streak. But, tbf, the only song that they've sent that has definitely deserves to qualify is Aijā. And, I wouldn't want them to NQ with that and then qualify with something like Hollow. I think during the Latvian NF, I ended up with at least five songs I like more than Hollow. Was really disappointed it was chosen based on the artist when they had some genuine interesting songs in there. If nothing else, I feel like Cyprus is a victim of this year in my ranking more than anything else. I gave it a solid 5.0 rating, acknowledging it as a pretty uninspired, but decently-turned out girlbop. I think it lacks a bit of personality compared to the likes of Georgia or Malta, where the artists seem to be more reflected in the song. With Belgium, I love the ambience. There's ideas there. But, the more I listen to it, the more I'm taken back to the 2019 entry, where the chorus of the song felt like a complete afterthought and undid so much of the good. I think the idea here, is that you can get away with it as it's building to what they're doing in the third minute, but....I still need to get through those first two minutes. I feel like I needed more mini payoffs before the big one at the end. (Oh and I still find it weird that the third minute of the song is constantly like that with no callbacks to the "chorus" at all....I feel they could've done 30 seconds with what they did and then revisit the chorus in some way before the end). I think you can tell by how much I can talk about it, I definitely don't dislike the Belgian entry and am just a bit more frustrated by what it should've been.

@@kaleproject3495 Of course, I completely agree, I just made this disclaimer to avoid being called unspeakable things for loving Israel's song, because if you like their entry it apparently means you support what their government is doing... It doesn't make any sense but yeah. Anyway, I'll stop there and that's all I have to say ^^' If I follow Eurovision, it's absolutely for the same reason as you, to talk about music, not that, and tbh this ''disclaimer'' was more for other people than for you because I knew you'd be respectful and know I am rating the song for what I think its merits deserve, I'm just sad to see so much hate around and felt like I just needed to say rating music is just rating music. I just think this song is powerful, the emotion comes out, Eden seems to have really great vocals and that's something I'm looking forward to live and I also think the song has a good staging potential as well. I also think the instrumental is good although it maybe could've been amped up a bit earlier in the song ; the last minute is amazing though and I think the payoff is worth it. I get that. I guess the difference is I connect with it and I think you feel in a similar way to this as you did with Bridges last year, right ? I think Hollow is a really good song though it's not better than Aijā but I don't see Latvia topping that one for me in a long time so... The bar was set up high. I personally think Hollow deserves to qualify and I hope it will break Latvia's NQ streak although I did wish Aijā did that last year ;( It may not be the most interesting/original song but it does what it does well in my opinion I mean my issue I personally have with Cyprus is that it does feel generic or at least not daring to do anything new, playing the relatively safe good radio track, not having the best buildup but still having one and the instrumental does feel like it could've had more punch but it's well-done otherwise, it plays its part so it ends up mid-table for me. I personally think it's similar to the songs surrounding it in my top for me such as Austria, Sweden or even the likes of Lithuania/UK in overall intent and quality, but I just either like Cyprus more than Austria/UK or do feel like Sweden and Lithuania have the production advantage on it, Sweden being slick as always and Lithuania, although I feel like it's overrated by fans, does have a really solid pop song with a good beat throughout although I do have the same issue as with Cyprus that it doesn't feel like it really builds up anywhere instrumentally-wise, it kinda stays the same throughout with only subtle changes. Ngl, Malta dropped for me with the revamp because they lost some catchy elements with the revamp which, in turn, didn't give too much good to the song imo. I know you haven't mentioned it but along with that statement, I also think Albania's revamp hurt it overall, simply because they didn't keep the melody along with Besa's vocals which made it catchy and memorable ; it did get better production overall, at the expense of losing any real melody which isn't the best tradeoff in my opinion. I honestly expected Albania to go up in my ranking with the revamp, and I believe if they kept the melody it would have, but here it dropped a bit for me as well. Georgia was a good surprise for me though, I expected a generic female bop because of the title when it got released and to be fair, the lyrics/message might not be the most original but I'll always believe it's a nice message and I really like the instrumental ; it is actually interesting and dynamic in my opinion, it feels like it gives off a bit of a ''tribal'' vibe at points if I can say it like that, like with the instrumental during and after the ''put out the fire'' part after the first chorus and overall, I think the instrumental is pretty rich for such a song which is why it doesn't come across as generic as it could've came across and that's also why it's higher in my top, I believe it's the best ''bop'' song of the year because of this. Nutsa also does seem to bring personality but also great vocals to the table so it does get points too because of that ^^. I see. I don't think the chorus is as much of a letdown as it was back in our 2019 entry but I can get your criticism, I did feel a similar way on my first listen tbh but it grew on me quite heavily with subsequent listens personally. I also think you have got a point for the last minute, I actually agree, I just don't think it affects me as much as it does for you x) I think it's a bit too repetitive and that's why I can't see it actually winning or something, and I feel like it's also indeed a bit of a wasted opportunity on the chorus but yeah, the ambiance just gets me whenever I listen to it and I do feel like the payoff of the last minute is worth it although I do think, likewise I believe, that the buildup could've been better tbh. No worries, even if you didn't like it I wouldn't mind ^^ It's always nice to see different opinions and especially discussing on them :3 I was just a bit surprised because you did seem to like it quite a lot when you first listened to it I guess, so I didn't expect it to be that ''low'' on your top and hence why I was curious ^^ But yeah I get what you mean though, it could've been better but I believe it's still quite great, could've been really great though with some adjusments.

@@leck_m so we have the right to criticize palestinians because 70% of them support ha-mas?

Glad you agree! Hope a lot of votes come Teya Dora's way in May!

Thanks so much! I'm glad that there aren't too many placements you disagree with. My before show videos generally don't have comments. For about half of the songs, I've commented about them in my NF tops and I'd like to give the internal selections the chance to be judged live, too. So I will comment in my after show ranking, for sure!

I have five songs rated lower than a 5.0. But my ratings are notoriously harsh. I don't think there are many bad, bad songs. Maybe just Czechia and Iceland. The next ones are either really bland or just not for me (Hello, Finland!). The Israel song I think is solid enough. Really like the third minute of it. I think the production could be better though. The instrumental is a bit artificial-sounding. Malta, I won't defend too hard...but I do think there are worse songs.

My current top 37 37. San Marino 36. Ireland 35. Iceland 34. Moldova 33. Albania 32. Czechia 31. Finland 30. Malta 29. Poland 28. Germany 27. Azerbaijan 26. Luxembourg 25. Israel 24. Latvia 23. France 22. Australia 21. Spain 20. Portugal 19. Georgia 18. Estonia 17. Denmark 16. UK 15. Slovenia 14. Serbia 13. Cyprus 12. Belgium 11. Sweden 10. Austria 9. Armenia 8. Greece 7. Switzerland 6. Netherlands 5. Lithuania 4. Ukraine 3. Norway 2. Croatia 1. Italy

I will be checking out your video to see your comments, but it's nice to see we have quite a few agreements. Your top two is excellent and I hope they both do well in May.

Yup! But in HK now. ^^

Thanks for watching!

What a televote he got. :3

Yeah, I've had a few people talk to me about it. Generally when I rank/rate songs, I don't really care about the lyrics unless they're lyrically clunky or the word phrasing is awkward. In most cases, performers can sing out their shopping lists as far as I care. XD

For me personally, this is the hardest song to rank. Musically, I found it to be the most attractive candidate in Serbia. Lyrically, though, I don't have the cultural background needed to wade into that mess. I'd probably have it around #20 ordinarily, but I think I'll just disqualify it. There are too many good songs in the queue just waiting to get in my top 50.

Is a possibility, but Germany might be fighting hard for it, too!

Well, at the end Germany almost in top 10 and Spain isn't in top 20 again

Thanks so much! If I knew viewers were still watching some of these for the first time, I would've made the clips longer. :3

An easy choice for me in the end. ^^

It's safe to say, based on the comments, that "Impossible" is probably my most popular choice in this list. ^^

Interesting. I didn't think whether this would've affected the voting. You think he would've won had he kept it in Icelandic?

Haha....do you know what the funny thing is? I didn't even realise that I had put opening songs that where at the top of my ranking. I went through the National Final Performance videos of the Official Eurovision YT, and just picked the three that were the most likely to do well in the contest. XD But yeah, all three of the songs I picked are in my top five.

@kaleproject3495 Ok, maybe not same top 3, but we agree that all of them are Eurovision winning material, right (regardless of televote/jury preferences)?

@@dimidrugg9592 Yeah, they're three of the songs that I see having a path to victory. Obviously, Croatia is a strong candidate for a televote win. Serbia could win the jury and still do well with the televote. Norway could surprise in both. It's a really open contest this year.

@kaleproject3495 Good to know I'm not crazy. Seeing Norway & Serbia so low in the odds baffles me. The hype around Ukraine & Italy worries me actually. Both won very recently and I do not want to see them again at the top. Also I can see the Netherlands pull a Norway 2023 and get a surprise top 5 result. The song has gone viral since its release. About Switzerland: I really like the song, but I find it overhyped. It is too experimental to be a winner and those vocal notes will be very hard to hit live. To close, I think France, Sweden & Belgium are potential jury winners under certain circumstances.

@@dimidrugg9592 I'm not so worried about Ukraine. I feel their chances are being inflated artificially, similar to Malta 2021. There's very little actual buzz about their entry. Italy, on the other hand, always goes under the radar before the contest and then does much better than people expect. They could be a potential compromise winner between televote and jury if nothing is unanimous. Netherlands will probably get slaughtered by juries, but I could foresee an In Corpore Sano type televote score for it. Again, if points go a certain way elsewhere, it could get close to the top five. Switzerland will need a lot of jury appreciation in the final because, I don't think it's the most accessible song for the Saturday Night televoting crowd. Almost everyone I know who likes it (including me) weren't sure what to make of it on first listen but it got better with further listens. That makes something a good song, but not necessarily a good Eurovision result. France seems in the running to win the jury. The vocals are very impressive and it is a solid composition. Sweden shouldn't be, but they will be because Sweden. Belgium, on the other hand, might go either way with juries. I'm not a huge fan of the song and I do wonder if it'll get lost a bit. It takes a LONG TIME to get to the point.

We actually seem to have quite a few crossovers between our lists and you also have a few that I would definitely have liked to have found room for. Casa Portuguesa, Kur, Novo Bolje and El Temps are all particularly good choices. ^^

What a year! And if anything, I was still too harsh with Lithuania's selection in terms of my ratings. I love a lot of those songs. :3